1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a directional sound system and more particularly to an acoustic source and sound reinforcement system for delivering particularly intense sound energy to a remote location or for providing a particularly rich, but highly localized, surround-sound sound field.
2. Description of the Problem
At issue is the construction of a sound reinforcement system which can accept inputs from a large plurality of transducers and non-destructively sum the inputs to produce a sound beam which can be directed to a particular location. Of particular interest is producing a device capable of producing a beam with high acoustic energy intensities. Also of interest is providing a system which produces a highly localized sound field and one in which an listener can enjoy a highly realistic auditory environment, including providing auditory cues corresponding to the listener's locational perspective as presented by a video system.
The parabolic dish is of natural interest at any time focusing and intensification of a propagated field is desired. Meyer et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,470 described a Broadband Acoustical Transmitting System based on a parabolic reflector incorporating two loudspeaker transducers. One transducer was spaced from the dish, forward along the intended axis of propagation of sound at the focal point of the dish, a conventional arrangement. This transducer was horn loaded and oriented to propagate sound backward along the radiant axis and into the dish for reflection in a collimated beam. The horn loaded transducer was intended to handle the higher frequency components of the overall field. A second transducer for low frequency components was located opposed to the horn loaded transducer on the radiant axis, preferably flush mounted in the dish and oriented for forward propagation of sound. At this location the low frequency transducer would derive relatively little benefit from the dish as such, though the dish would serve as a baffle.